Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven Judges' Scorecards, Reaction After Controversial Stoppage

Oleksandr Usyk defeated Rico Verhoeven via 11th-round TKO in their fight in front of Egypt's Pyramids of Giza on Saturday.

Verhoeven more than held his own, as the scorecards indicate, but Usyk landed multiple uppercuts in the 11th before their clash was stopped.

Fans and pundits reacted to the result with a mix of shock and outrage:

Usyk retained his WBC heavyweight title with the victory.

While Verhoeven was thankful for the opportunity to face Usyk, he expressed his belief that the fight was stopped too early.

"I thought it was an early stoppage but in the end it's not up to me," Verhoeven said. "I was already super thankful for this opportunity for Usyk to take this fight. I wanted the referee to let me go out on my shield or let me go in the 12th. I felt we were pretty even on the scorecards. I am really thankful for everyone who came out. We are at the pyramids! Thank you so much."

While Saturday's clash represented just the second professional boxing fight of Verhoeven's career, he was able to lean on his experience as one of the top kickboxers in the world.

He owns a 66-10 record with 21 knockouts in his professional kickboxing career.

As for Usyk, he remained undefeated and improved to 25-0 with the victory. The 39-year-old has now taken down Verhoeven and Daniel Dubois since his back-to-back wins over Tyson Fury in 2024.